


one of these nights

by whiteautumn



Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! Oneshots [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst and Feels, Can we give Ryouken his actual name tag please, M/M, Yuusaku pines without realising he's pining, also we need new tags for Ai and Flame because they are both Ignis and it gets confusing, main focus is on Yuusaku though, others are just mentioned (with Ryouken the most ofc), written post-e46 and pre-season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 07:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14232678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteautumn/pseuds/whiteautumn
Summary: He was chasing a ghost – someone he’d never known, could never put a name or a face to.





	one of these nights

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Episode 46 destroyed me. If you want my actual reactions to it, read the end notes. 
> 
> 2\. This is a Yuusaku-centred piece with a lot of Ryouken, and is my take on Yuusaku and Ryouken's relationship thus far. 
> 
> 3\. I should be studying for finals but I had so much feels because these two are going to be the death of me.
> 
> Feedback/Kudos greatly appreciated!
> 
> [(Insp.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xWiro_tS1k)

Living a normal life was, for lack of better terms, mundane.

In all honesty, Yuusaku didn’t think he would feel this way. He hadn’t known what he had expected beyond his simple plan of revenge (not to mention saving his savior) – what he would do after.

 _There isn’t an after. Not when Ryouken was out there, somewhere._ That was a thought he never dared to allow himself to indulge in, because thinking about him brought forth a tidal of unexplainable emotions that Yuusaku refused to sink into. It consumed him in a way different from the burn of anger that drove his revenge, whirling about and pulling Yuusaku towards the centre of –

It feels a lot like riding a data storm, except with a certain tranquility that made him remember his last conversation with Ai not too long back at Stardust road, the ocean illuminated in a breathtaking silvery-blue – like his eyes, his deep voice, and the apathy that Yuusaku has come to accustom himself with.

When he’d watch his arch-nemesis (enemy, savior, the only person who could ever understand him) leave, the lone silhouette on a yacht, disappearing quietly into the horizon. Beyond his reach.

He was chasing a ghost – someone who he’d never known, could never put a name or a face to until the very last moment, and someone who he had been so close to catching only to lose, again. The other was Yuusaku’s whole world for ten long and torturous years, the one he swore to defeat, to save - he had come to occupy a huge part of what made Yuusaku, well, Yuusaku. Sometimes when he felt particularly cynical, Yuusaku wondered if he was the only person to feel this way, because it seems like Revolver – Ryouken – had never planned on staying in the first place.

No matter what Yuusaku said.

Ryouken had leapt across the abyss to save him – not him, never sixteen-year-old Yuusaku, or Playmaker, but the child who had been in so much pain – on his own accord, for his own sake, to alleviate his own suffering. Then he had embraced his cursed destiny in the same way, refusing to let go – Yuusaku wished he had.

Wished he had listened.

Wished he had stayed.

Wished he had thought Yuusaku was as important as Ryouken was to him.

Finally, when everything was over, as he watched Ryouken depart, Yuusaku knew that this had all been one-sided. He was the only person who was obsessed with Ryouken, marking him in his mind as someone special (and he was, for he saved him, and Yuusaku could never be grateful enough).

Ryouken never did. And Yuusaku didn’t blame him. 

He didn’t deem Ryouken selfish – he couldn’t, not when he knew that the other had lost everything to take up his own destiny of saving mankind. Yuusaku wouldn’t have minded if Ryouken and he had worked together instead – they could have become something new, something amazing. That was wishful thinking, saved for the nights where his nightmares did not plague him, but flashes of ice blue instead.

Yuusaku sometimes regret letting Ai go that night – surprised as the AI might have been – since as long as Ai was with him, there’s a high chance that Revolver would be back to target Playmaker. But a promise was a promise, and Ai had friends who were waiting for him back in the Cyberse.

So, life continued on. Routine and dull.

_(Think of three things. Three things to continue living.)_

 

* * *

 

It’s been a month since the Tower of Hanoi fell. A month since Revolver and Playmaker’s duel. A month since anyone’s spotted any Playmaker sighting in LINK VRAINS.  

_(A month since he left.)_

The lack of the need to hack and hide his activity in LINK VRAINS meant that he was left with an abundance of free time. Enough free time to think about Ryouken, and he’d even catch himself staring at his duel disk sometimes, waiting for an annoying voice to reach his ears so he could tell the source to shut up.

He took up helping Kusanagi-san with his hot dog stand instead. Their revenge is now complete, and Yuusaku felt that this was the best way to repay the older man for all that he’s done for him. He wasn’t too good at it – admittedly, he _is_ a hacker who’s never cooked a day in his life – but Kusanagi-san had been patient in his teachings. 

School was boring as usual – Yuusaku slept through classes (although he fought harder to stay awake now because he could no longer stand the dreams), tuned out Shima’s daily ramblings (mainly about how cool Playmaker was and his sad cries about how said hero of LINK VRAINS had stopped appearing) and ignored Zaizen Aoi.

SOL Technologies had given LINK VRAINS an overhaul since that incident, but Yuusaku hadn’t paid it much mind – the virtual world meant nothing to him now with no Hanoi, no Ai, no _Revolver_ –

There was a bounty put on Playmaker’s head – but of course, if Ryouken is to be believed, SOL Technologies is probably still looking for him for knowing too much – but Yuusaku couldn’t care less about it. The only people who knew his true identity were Ai, Kusanagi-san and Ryouken – neither of them were saying anything soon. He hadn’t returned to LINK VRAINS, even in secret. There's just simply no point.

_(What he was after, Yuusaku knew he wouldn’t find it in LINK VRAINS.)_

 

* * *

 

_Think of three things._

_Three things to go home, three things to live._

_Who are you? Where are you?_

_Three things._

_You and me, we’ll seize a new future together._

_That’s interesting, show me then. What can you do in this situation?_

_There was a longing in him that he’s never felt before – something that ate at every part of him, seeping into his very bones and made him feel like screaming, screaming not because he was in pain, but because_ he _was in pain – the other boy._ He _was trapped, and he had to do something because there’s no one else like_ him _– no one else who understood the coldness, the despair. No one else who could break the chain. The white floor was so cold, but the voice that spoke to him was so, so warm and he wished that he could see the owner of the voice but he can’t and the chill bit into his skin but he can’t give up just because he was scared –_

_I will save you. Just like you saved me._

_I will save you._

_He remembered sharp crisp blue, startling against snowy white._

* * *

 

Regardless of Dr Kougami’s claims that his predictions are absolute, Yuusaku had never tagged Ai as a threat. He had – dare he say it? – become a relatively acceptable companion throughout his battles with Hanoi, which was unexpected since the Ignis had been Yuusaku’s hostage.

He had to admit that perhaps he was wrong, while frowning up at a figure illuminated in yellow – reminiscent of Ai’s own transformation when he’d bitten off Revolver’s arm in their second duel – destroying LINK VRAINS.

This situation seemed a little too familiar to Playmaker – except the source of the destruction wasn’t a dragon.

It was an Ignis. An Ignis that wasn’t Ai.

Playmaker frowned as he hopped onto his duel board, ignoring the cheers that he could hear from the Pigeon-and-Frog duo (and was that Shima in his hideous getup?). He didn’t have much time, SOL was definitely going to send someone after him soon, but he had to deal with this menace first –

Yuusaku didn’t know why he chose to return – perhaps it’s the Ignis, or maybe he just decided to take Kusanagi-san’s advice to return to LINK VRAINS so that he could enjoy duelling again…

Or maybe it’s because he hoped to catch a flash of dark red hair and blank yellow eyes that just might follow the Ignis. There’s no way Revolver would let this chance go after all.

 _(The dreams were getting too frequent for him to ignore. His entire being felt overwhelmed – sucked into a whirlpool of despair, wanting, waiting and hope – everytime they surfaced, leaving Yuusaku breathless and oddly_ empty _, staring up into the dark night sky.)_

Playmaker smiled briefly, the expression disappearing as soon as it appeared. He narrowed his eyes at the Ignis firing flames and destroying the virtual architecture around him.

He’ll wait. It might not be today, or maybe even anytime soon, but he’ll wait. He’s good at waiting – ten years for his revenge, for him to meet his special person, for the other to turn away from him – so he will continue to do so.

Revolver will return one day to fulfil his destiny. 

_(Maybe this time, Ryouken would choose him.)_

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Ryouken does care for Yuusaku and wants to let go of the destiny he imposed himself with, it was obvious in the way he faltered in the episode. But I guess the destruction of humanity and his father's death is enough to drive anyone to not take Yuusaku's hand at the end even with his uncharacteristic... um, ~~confession~~ outburst.  
> 2\. Yuusaku thinks his obsession with Ryouken is one-sided, but that's far from the truth. Revolver was extremely harped on Playmaker for a while, until Baira and the others got their asses kicked and Ryouken got a nasty wakeup call. Here, Yuusaku is a little sad that Ryouken chose to leave. Because I am.  
> 3\. I, too, hope that Ryouken chooses to stay the next time he appears.
> 
> Episode 46 reactions:  
> 1\. Why is the animation so shitty  
> 2\. DID YUUSAKU JUSt - JUST CONFESS?! (Ai's right what happened to your characterisation Playmaker-sama)  
> 3\. RYOUKEN! WHYY JUST WHYYYYY
> 
> ^about sums it up. I'm hoping Ryouken pulls an Ichijouji Ken (from Digimon Adventures 2) and joins Yuusaku gradually instead of the typical jump that YGO loves (I'm looking at you Tenjou Kaito). I actually screamed when I saw him leaving. 
> 
> Some comments about/HC for S2:  
> \- Blue Angel probably won't appear in LINK VRAINS for a while after what happened to her in S1. I imagine even if she wanted to Akira's berserk button has been hit like about a thousand times so he wouldn't let her, and Aoi's an obedient girl so if nothing drastic happens, she'll stop her idol persona.  
> \- Judging by the title of E47 and the preview context, someone's targeting Playmaker-sama and we have a new Ignis who's apparently a loose cannon. I hope this sets up for a Revolver-saving-Playmaker situation (which was what I wanted to end this piece with originally, but I decided against it).  
> \- Ai will return (ofc he would) - I love him.  
> \- Hype for Kaji Yuuki as Takeru (he's FINALLY in the franchise!)  
> \- Haru is... vaguely reminiscent of Haruto tbh - here's our resident shota character for this series, huh.


End file.
